A preschool teacher is shot and killed while leaving a nightclub Jane Hadan, 24, a Black woman, was out with friends in the early hours of December 15, 2013, when gunfire erupted outside Passion Lounge near 108th and Q Streets on Omaha s southwest side. Police were called to Roxbury Plaza shortly before 2 a.m.; Hadan was struck as shots rang out in the parking lot, and two men identified as 30-year-old Gary Lockett and 23-year-old Brandon Patterson were also wounded.
Medics rushed Hadan to Creighton University Medical Center, where she died of her injuries later that morning.
In the days that followed, family and friends gathered at a vigil to mourn a young mother and preschool teacher whose life had been cut short. Loved ones described her as gentle and devoted, and her obituary noted her work with Educare of Omaha and the family she left behind, including her young son. The memories shared by relatives painted a portrait of a compassionate woman whose everyday kindness made an immediate absence felt across classrooms and family circles.
Detectives worked the scene and canvassed the area around the nightclub, but the investigation produced few public leads. Authorities have said that multiple people were hit by the gunfire that night and that Hadan was found on the ground at the scene before being transported to the hospital. Years later, the case remains open with Omaha police highlighting it as an unsolved homicide, and no arrests have been announced in connection with her killing.
Her family has continued to honor her in public remembrances, turning grief into calls for community support and awareness. Her mother has spoken about how donated blood kept Jane alive long enough for loved ones to say goodbye, a detail that became part of the family s effort to give back while keeping her story in the public eye. The scene, the hour, and the unanswered questions all remain fixed points in a case that still asks for witnesses and answers.
